Our team studies additive manufacturing (AM) processes and materials using synchrotron x-ray and other in situ/ex situ characterization tools. We are interested in developing advanced alloy/composite systems and building innovative architecture using laser-based AM techniques, as well as understanding the physics underlying the laser-material interaction and material structural evolution. Our team leverages the unique capabilities of ultrafast synchrotron x-ray imaging and scattering techniques for probing the highly dynamic and transient phenomena involved in AM.
Supervised by Prof. Vinayak Dravid and Dr. Jin Wang, my doctoral research at Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory was focused on fabrication and characterization of nanostructured oxides. In 2010, I joined X-ray Science Division (XSD) at Argonne as a postdoc, working on coherent electron scattering (with Dr. Murray Gibson) and coherent x-ray scattering (with Dr. Jin Wang) techniques. In 2012, I joined the Imaging Group of XSD as a staff scientist, developing and applying high-speed x-ray imaging/diffraction techniques for studying highly dynamic irreversible/non-repeatable material processes. In 2019, I started my academic career as a tenure-track associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of UVA.
Openings: we have positions for 1~2 PhD students in 2020 Fall Semester, with research focus on experimental materials science and sophisticated instrumentation.
Research Interests
Additive manufacturing processes and materials
Synchrotron x-ray imaging and scattering
Materials characterization
Highly dynamic processes in hard and soft condensed matters
Selected Publications
Investigation of dynamic fracture behavior of additively manufactured Al-10Si-Mg using high-speed synchrotron X-ray imaging Niranjan Parab, Lianghua Xiong, Qilin Guo, Zherui Guo, Cody Kirk, Yizhou Nie, Xianghui Xiao, Fezzaa Kamel, Wesley Everhart, Weinong Chen, Lianyi Chen, Tao Sun, Additive Manufacturing, 30, (2019) 100878
Mechanisms of pore elimination during 3D printing of metals Mohammad Hojjatzadeh, Luis Escano, Minglei Qu, Xianghui Xiao, Kamel Fezzaa, Wesley Everhart, Tao Sun, Lianyi Chen, Nature Communications, 10, (2019) 3088
Bulk-Explosion-Induced Metal Spattering During Laser Processing Cang Zhao, Qilin Guo, Xuxiao Li, Niranjan Parab, Kamel Fezzaa, Wenda Tan, Lianyi Chen, Tao Sun, Physical Review X, 9, (2019) 021052
Keyhole threshold and morphology in laser melting revealed by ultrahigh-speed x-ray imaging Ross Cunningham*, Cang Zhao*, Niranjan Parab, Christopher Kantzos, Joseph Pauza, Kamel Fezzaa, Tao Sun, Anthony Rollett, Science, 363, (2019) 849 (*equal contribution)
Mechanisms of melt pool variation under constant input energy density in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process Qilin Guo, Cang Zhao, Minglei Qu, Lianghua Xiong, Luis I. Escano, S. Mohammad H. Hojjatzadeh, Niranjan D. Parab, Kamel Fezzaa, Wes Everhart, Tao Sun, Lianyi Chen, Additive Manufacturing, 28, (2019) 600
High-Speed X-ray Investigation of Melt Dynamics during Continuous-Wave Laser Remelting of Selective Laser Melted Co-Cr Alloy Brodan Richter, Nena Blanke, Christian Werner, Niranjan Parab, Tao Sun, Frank Vollertsen, Frank Pfefferkorn, CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology, 68, (2019) 229
Effect of laser-matter interaction on molten pool flow and keyhole dynamics Nadia Kouraytem, Xuxiao Li, Ross Cunningham, Cang Zhao, Niranjan Parab, Tao Sun, Anthony D. Rollett, Ashley D. Spear, Wenda Tan, Physical Review Applied, 11, (2019) 064054
In Situ Synchrotron X-ray Imaging of 4140 Steel Laser Powder Bed Fusion Andrew Bobel, Louis G. Hector, Isaac Chelladurai, Anil K. Sachdev, Tyson Brown, Whitney A. Poling, Robert Kubic, Benjamin Gould, Cang Zhao, Niranjan Parab, Aaron Greco, Tao Sun, Materialia, 6, (2019) 100306
Real time observation of binder jetting printing process using high-speed X-ray imaging Niranjan Parab, John Barnes, Cang Zhao, Ross Cunningham, Kamel Fezzaa, Anthony Rollett, Tao Sun, Scientific Reports, 9, (2019) 2499
In-situ high-speed X-ray imaging of piezo-driven directed energy deposition additive manufacturing Sarah Wolff, Hao Wu, Niranjan Parab, Cang Zhao, Kernel Ehmann, Tao Sun, Jian Cao, Scientific Reports, 9, (2019) 962
Revealing particle-scale powder spreading dynamics in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process by high-speed x-ray imaging Luis Escano, Niranjan Parab, Lianghua Xiong, Qilin Guo, Cang Zhao, Kamel Fezzaa, Wesley Everhart, Tao Sun, Lianyi Chen, Scientific Reports, 8, (2018) 15079
Transient dynamics of powder spattering in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process revealed by in-situ high-speed high-energy x-ray imaging Qilin Guo*, Cang Zhao*, Luis Escano, Zac Young, Lianghua Xiong, Kamel Fezzaa, Wes Everhart, Tao Sun, Lianyi Chen, Acta Materialia, 151, (2018) 169 (*equal contribution)
Ultrafast x-ray imaging of laser metal additive manufacturing processes Niranjan Parab*, Cang Zhao*, Ross Cunningham, Luis Escano, Kamel Fezzaa, Wesley Everhart, Anthony Rollett, Lianyi Chen, Tao Sun, Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 25, (2018) 1467 (*equal contribution. Top 20 most read paper of JSR in 2017-2018)
Real-time monitoring of laser powder bed fusion process using high-speed X-ray imaging and diffraction Cang Zhao, Kamel Fezzaa, Ross Cunningham, Haidan Wen, Francesco De Carlo, Lianyi Chen, Anthony Rollett, Tao Sun, Scientific Reports, 7, (2017) 3602 (Top 100 in Materials Science of Sci. Rep. in 2017)
